Bayer Leverkusen director Rudi Voller says the Covid-19 pandemic helped Chelsea sign Kai Havertz.
The Blues paid Leverkusen a club-record £72m up front, with the fee expected to reach around £90 when including add-ons.
But Voller says the Bundesliga outfit would have held out for more money had they not been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
"[Chelsea] simply made good use of the coronavirus period," Voller told Bild.
"Next year it would have been much harder for Chelsea to get Kai. [Other interested teams] preferred to hold back because of the high transfer fee in this special and uncertain time."
